# Prayer for the Homeless
*2008-11-11*

> Bill Young leads a heartfelt prayer for those without a home, reflecting on how our hearts and homes are intertwined and asking God for compassion and transformation.

## Opening Reflection

Good morning, I’m Bill Young, and welcome to this episode of Prayer and Lunch. Today’s prayer is dedicated to the homeless—those who lack a place to call home. I was moved by the story of Barbara Sims, a woman who struggled with alcoholism and abuse, was deemed unfit by society, and ended up living on the streets. Her experience reminded me that our home is where the heart is, and when we lose our heart, we lose our home.

## The Prayer

Dear God, there is no place like home. Home is where the heart is. When we lose heart, we lose home. We feel the truth of these words, for home and heart are bound together; the state of one reflects the state of the other. Who has not lost a home without feeling as if the heart has been cut out? And whose heart has not been healed faster by being in the right home? Help me pray for a brother in need. He is beloved, created in Your image, with gifts he does not yet know. He lives on the street, eating from garbage cans. I do not know his name; I only know he is homeless. I have seen him sleeping in doorways, his hollow eyes staring at the world. My judgment only adds to his pain. Fill me with Your unstoppable energy, Lord, that transforms and gives me the desire to pray for him and never lose sight of his divinity.

## Petition for Compassion

Lord, I thank You for the home, food, and rest I enjoy. I cannot imagine the chaos of living without those blessings. I ask You to intervene on behalf of this beloved soul. Fill him with the knowledge of Your intimate love, that each person may know their own worth and be nourished. Touch the hearts, minds, and bodies of all our brothers and sisters, awakening them to their holiness and gifts. Use me as an instrument of Your compassion, that I may serve the betterment of all.

## Closing

I commit to Your holy vision for the world, trusting that as I am lifted, humanity is lifted. May we all find a home where our hearts and bodies find comfort. Thank You, Lord, for a love that breaks all boundaries and moves heaven and earth so that no one is known only by the name “homeless.”

Amen.

*May we recognize the sacred dignity of every person and work to bring them home in heart and in place.*